Jackson Purchase Historical Society

Held at Lacey’s Restaurant in Benton, Kentucky – Michael Freeland, author of Blood River to Berlin, spoke on his time overseas during World War II as a medic.  He noted that these were difficult stories to hear, but that they needed to be told.  Freeland joined the military and turned 20 years of age on the ship as he was sent overseas.  He kept a journal of his experiences which later helped him pen his book.  Freeland joined the 82nd Airborne in France and traveled the first time by airplane to London, England to attend jump school.  There he saw devastation – cold, smokey, bombed places and people standing in long lines just for a chance to buy anything that might be available. In early May of 1945, traveling by jeep toward Cologne, France and Berlin, Germany, Freeland and others in the 82nd Airborne found an SS concentration camp in France.  He said one could smell the stench from a half-mile away and the question was always how could something like this happen in a civilized country with culture, literature, and music?  Freeland was invited to return to Europe in 2005 as a guest of the Greatest Generation Foundation.  Even though he hesitated to make such a trip, he was glad that he did because it did bring him some closure.  However, Freeland noted that some images would be forever etched into his mind.

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